#Musafir
Wrote this story for a picture prompt and the prompt was ‘Musafir’. Here is my story:
#RhituparnaChakraborty
#Disclaimer: This is a work of fiction with no relation to any person or organism dead or alive. This story cannot be copied, reproduced, published elsewhere without the consent of the author Rhituparna Chakraborty
Ria fixed her mask, took off her glasses and wiped off the mist laden lenses. It was summer, and then pandemic and then mask and to add to that, her glasses. Her ears were hurting. And everytime she inhaled and exhaled, thanks to the mask, the glasses would become foggy and she couldn’t see a thing. The bus in which she was about to travel seemed to have decided not to move. And the bus guys were reluctant to switch on the AC. She complained, but apparently, because of pandemic, they wouldn’t switch on the AC and the glasses of the windows needed to be opened.
She took out her phone and began scrolling. Suddenly she gasped seeing a piece of news on social media. ‘Famous badminton player, Ansh Rathod injured.’ ‘Damn’!, She told herself. She immediately called her friend Sheena.
Sheena: Hey my Musafir, boarded the bus?
Ria: Hey, why do you address me as Musafir! I know I travel a lot, but you call me by my name Ria. Don’t call me Musafir. Got it!😡
Sheena(Giggling): Ok Musafir!
Ria: Shut up Sheena.
Sheena: Well, that I will decide.
Ria: Now listen, Ansh Rathod is hurt.
Sheena: Wait! What?
Ria: Yes, just read the news Ansh is hurt.
Sheena(irritated): What has Ansh Rathod’s injury to do with our plan? Get out of your dream world Ria. 😡 We are meeting and going for shopping.
Ria: But Ansh Rathod is in the same city as yours. Can we just walk through the road in front of his house and catch a glimpse of him? Maybe I can get an interview of his.
Sheena: You are mad. Did you ever get a glimpse of him all these years?
Ria: No! But I don’t want to give up.
Sheena: In this hot sun I am not going to walk in front of his house just to see him.
Ria(Upset): Fine. You don’t come. I will go alone.😏. Pick me up from the bus stop and we will have lunch at Joe’s.
Sheena: You don’t need to tell me that Musafir. I already reserved a table in the name of “Musafir” for you me and Rehaan.
Ria: You booked a table in the name of Musafir?😡😡.
Sheena(giggling) : Yes. You are a musafir, aren’t you?
Ria: Bye😡
Finally the bus moved. Ria could feel some air on her face. Ria was a frequent traveller. She was a journalist and her job called for a lot of travel. However because of pandemic she could not travel much off late.
The bus reached its destination. Sheena and Rehaan came to pick Ria and from there they went to Joe’s. The traffic was bad and it took them almost an hour to reach Joe’s. The guy at the reception said, ‘But your table is already occupied.’
Sheena: What? But that’s what reservation is about. We had reserved a table beforehand. Why did you give it to someone else?
Receptionist: But Ma’am, the people who are at the table said that they had reserved that table in the name of Musafir.
Sheena(Fuming): They must have read the list of names in this list on your desk. and very smartly, they mentioned our reservation name and took the table.
Ria added, ‘Yes. Sheena come, let’s meet those rude folks.’
Before the receptionist could stop them, Ria and Sheena stormed inside the restaurant and said loudly, ‘Who all are sitting at the table reserved in the name of “Musafir”?
Everyone glared at them. Two gentlemen at the corner table stood up waved at Ria and Sheena and replied, “That’s us!”
Ria walked towards them with rage and said, ‘We had reserved this table and how dare you occupy our table! And you guys think, you are so smart that you will steal a name from the reserved tables’ list and we would not know?’😡
One of the guys said, ‘Well, honestly, we did nothing of that sort. Our friend told us to meet here and he said he had reserved the table in the name of ‘Musafir’.’
Saying that, the guy looked at the restaurant entrance and said, ‘There he is. Ask him.’
Ria and Sheena looked at the entrance door. A gentleman walked towards them. He was limping and he had a plaster on one of his wrists. As he reached near Ria, he took off his mask and glares, smiled at Ria and said, ‘Hi Musafir! Nice to meet you.’
Ria replied bewildered, ‘Ansh Rathod!’ She stared at him. Ansh smiled and said, ‘Well, I was sitting a row behind you in the bus.’ Ria listened without blinking. Ansh continued, ‘And I heard you wanted to meet me. So I thought why don’t I. give you a surprise!’ Ria blushed. She was shivering. She did not know if it was a dream. She pinched herself. Ansh laughed and said, ‘Hahahh, Ria, this is not a dream. But yes, all this while I thought, people were fans of great athletes. Never knew someone would be so keen to meet a badminton player like me who has to play with a prosthetic leg and now I got this wrist injury as well. Don’t know if I will be able to participate in the Paralympics.’
Ria tried to control her nervousness, smiled and then said, ‘For me and for all the fans of yours, you are and you will always remain a champion.’
Ansh smiled and said, ‘Thank you! So, glad I was a musafir too today and overheard you in the bus. Now, let us have a happy meal to celebrate the ‘Musafirs’ in us……….
Well, the celebration was beautiful but what was more beautiful was the fact that Ansh seemed to like Ria. Now, whether he will express his feelings or not, that, well, time will say……
